Games like Backpack Battles
Erumaru and Backpack Battles
Backpack Battles by PlayWithFurcifer is an inventory management auto battler: you buy items, arrange them in a backpack where position and neighbours matter, and your character fights other players' builds asynchronously. It came to Steam in 2024 and is one of the most popular small games in the genre
What they share
- The joy of a build that clicks: items that feed each other, a plan that comes together over a run
- Asynchronous calm. Neither game asks you to be fast
- Classes with their own flavour. In Erumaru it is ten callings, from Warlock to Guardian, each with a role on the board
Where Erumaru goes its own way
- Erumaru is squad-based: up to 10 heroes on an 11 by 11 board, each with abilities and gear, instead of one character and a bag
- No other players at all. The run is PvE, against the mobs, elites and bosses of the lands
- A roguelite map with choices between fights, 40 events, relics and a finale, plus 50 Lantern levels of meta progression
- Items are assembled from components and woken with sparks of Eru, and heroes level up to 100
Side by side
| Backpack Battles | Erumaru | |
|---|---|---|
| Mode | asynchronous PvP | PvE, single player |
| One session | a run of rounds, about 20 to 30 minutes | a roguelite run of 42 floors, 60 to 90 minutes, saved at any node |
| How units grow | items in a bag, recipes | stars from copies, levels up to 100, six items, four perks, Awakening |
| Setting | fantasy, four classes | post-apocalyptic world, ten peoples, ten lands |
| Price | paid | closed beta free, full price not announced |
| Status | live on Steam | in development, coming to Steam |
Who should try Erumaru
For Backpack Battles players who want the same build-crafting pleasure spread over a whole squad and a long run, without the ladder
Questions people ask
Does Erumaru have inventory puzzles like Backpack Battles?
No. Erumaru's items go into six slots per hero and combine from components; the puzzle is on the board, in placement and synergies